Defensive effort leads Morris boys to overtime win over Ottawa

MORRIS — In the first quarter of Friday night’s Interstate 8 Conference game, the Morris boys basketball team allowed 15 points to Ottawa.

After that, it was a different story as Morris held the Pirates to just 22 points in the final three quarters and overtime to pick up a 39-37 OT victory.

Ottawa (5-2, 0-2) scored the first point of the second quarter on a free throw by Aric Threadgill, who led the team with 13 points, to take a 16-9 lead, but Morris did not allow another point in the first half. Meanwhile, the Pirate defense was just as stout, holding Morris (4-2, 1-1) to just five points in the second quarter and taking a 16-14 lead into halftime.

Morris, though, made some adjustments in the locker room and came out strong in the second half. They took a 17-16 lead on a 3-pointer by Landon Norris, but Ottawa tied it on a free throw by Owen Sanders (5 points, 7 rebounds).

Then, Morris' Jack Wheeler took over.

The 6-foot-5 Wheeler made himself at home on the block, scoring six of Morris' next eight points as they built a 25-17 lead to cap a 16-2 run since the start of the second quarter. Ottawa got its first field goal since the first quarter when Kyler Araaujo (7 points) scored with 4:16 to play in the third, and teammate Hezekiah Joachim (8 points) followed with a pair of free throws to cut the Morris lead to 25-21.

Wheeler finished with a game-high 18 points and eight rebounds.

“It seems like we always play low-scoring games like this with Ottawa,” Wheeler said. “I don’t know if we have ever scored more than 45 against them since I’ve been playing. There is a lot of defense and pressure in our games against them.

“In a game that’s low-scoring like this, every shot seems bigger and you have to go to the hole to make things happen. They are a physical team and so are we, so it’s a good matchup.”

With Wheeler at the top of Morris' 1-3-1 defense and Brett Bounds on one of the wings, it was difficult for Ottawa to find open passing lanes and that made it difficult for the Pirates to get off a good shot.

“There wasn’t much flow in this game.” Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said. “Both teams are pretty familiar with each other, so it comes down to execution. We just didn’t make enough plays.

“Credit Morris for making the plays down the stretch and in overtime. We had a stretch in the middle of the game where we couldn’t buy a basket, but that’s basketball sometimes. Their length at certain positions gave us a lot of trouble. We had an opportunity to get a conference win on the road, but Morris just made more plays.”

A basket by Nazim Baftiri (6 points) put Morris ahead 27-21, but Ottawa cut it to 27-25 on back-to-back baskets by Threadgill and Evan Snook. RJ Kennedy (2 points, 7 rebounds) made a pair of free throws for Morris, but a 3-pointer by Joachim cut the lead to 29-28 entering the fourth.

Ottawa went ahead 30-29 with a basket by Threadgill to start the fourth, but Wheeler answered with a 3-point play and then made a pair of free throws to put Morris ahead 34-30. Threadgill hit a 3-pointer with 1:46 left to cut it to 34-33. Wheeler made 1 of 2 free throws for a 35-33 Morris lead. Threadgill then made a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds left to tie it. Wheeler’s deep 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed, and the game went into overtime.

Ottawa got the first basket in the extra period on a putback by Snook with 1:37 to play. With :56 left, Baftiri hit 1 of 2 free throws and, 11 seconds later, Wheeler put Morris ahead 38-37 with a basket. Collin Pfeifer (7 points) made 1 of 2 free throws with 14.7 seconds left.

The Pirates had a chance to tie, but Threadgill’s baseline jumper rolled off the rim as time expired.

“Neither team shot well, but both defenses were playing very hard,” Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. “There was a lot of defense being played, a lot of bodies on the floor. RJ Kennedy in the middle of our 1-3-1 did a great job on Sanders.

“We didn’t really get the ball inside to Jack in the first half, so we wanted to make sure we did that in the second half. That opened up the perimeter for us, but their 1-3-1 gave us fits. We won with a lot of guts and effort tonight.”